


Past? Future? I've Heard It Both Ways

by itsmayhemily



Category: Psych
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Humor, Misuse of technology, Past meets future, Self-Discovery, Time Travel, Time Travel Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-14 00:44:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2171493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmayhemily/pseuds/itsmayhemily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Shawn, Gus, Juliet and Carlton come across a form of technology taken straight out of a science fiction novel (literally), they come face to face with a situation they previous thought impossible: themselves. Or at least, the them from 10 years in the future. Canon pairings. Rated T just to be safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Not-So Wrinkle in Time

2007

The young man crept quietly along the outer wall of the building, his partner not far behind. “Shawn, this is a really stupid idea,” Burton Guster, better known as Gus, whispered fiercely. “Detective Lassiter told us to stay in the car.”

Shawn Spencer, pseudo-psychic extraordinaire, paused and glanced back at the other young man, smirking. “Gus, don’t be a cash-only toll booth. When Lassie says “stay”, he really means “follow us as soon as we leave the car”.” Gus frowned, “No, I’m pretty sure he means stay, as in don’t move.” Shawn tsked before continuing to creep along the wall, Gus following behind, albeit reluctantly.

You see, Shawn, Gus and the SBPD were currently investigating a mechanical engineering professor, Dale Myles, at the University of California-Santa Barbara, accused of murdering his partner, Liam Studwick. Shawn had psychically divined that the professor and his partner had been using government funding to finance a secret project and were using an abandoned warehouse by the docks to hide said project, which was where Shawn, Gus and SBPD detectives Carlton Lassiter and Juliet O’Hara were currently located.

Shawn paused when he came to a window and, crouching low, tried to peer into the warehouse. Inside, he saw professor Myles typing on a laptop next to the most bizarre looking machine Shawn had ever seen. It consisted of a large metal platform connected to what appeared to be several projectors surrounding the platform. All of this was connected to what appeared to be an enormous industrial engine, set to full blast and emitting a strange bluish-green light from within. The engine was making so many strange, groaning, creaking sounds that Shawn wondered if the machine was even capable of fully operating without imploding first.

He turned to Gus and made a series of strange hand gestures and facial expressions like he was trying, and failing, to communicate in sign language. Gus smacked him in the shoulder and told him to quit messing around. Shawn glanced back indigently before carefully attempting to open the window. It pushed open smoothly and Shawn grinned triumphantly.

“We’re in,” he said. “In? The window is five feet off the ground,” Gus exclaimed in a harsh whisper. “How the hell are we supposed to get inside?” Shawn tapped his finger to his lips thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. “I’ve got it! You get down on all fours, I’ll stand on your back and pull myself through the window,” “You must be out of your damn mind!” Gus exclaimed, a little too loudly. “I just got these pants dry cleaned and I will not have them soiled on this rodent-infested industrial dirt,” Shawn let out an exasperated sigh, “Man! Will you just get down on your hands and knees already? Lives may be at stake!” Gus pointed a finger at Shawn in a “you so owe me” sort of way. “Fine, but you’re paying for my dry cleaning,”

Gus dropped down and Shawn quickly stood on his back and pulled himself through the window. He dropped onto the concrete floor with a light thud and swiftly glanced around to make sure they hadn’t been discovered yet. Gus’ face appeared in the small window. “Alright, now help me up,” After some leaps, a bit of struggling and a lot of complaining on both sides, Gus made it inside the warehouse as well.

They quickly hid behind a large stack of crates. Shawn held up three fingers, indicating that they would jump out on the count of three. Gus shook his head quickly from side to side, but Shawn only grinned and nodded excitedly, bring his fingers down one at a time. When all three fingers were down, Shawn rushed out from behind the stack of crates towards the professor and the machine, Gus groaned before rushing out after his friend.

They had almost reached the professor just as detectives Lassiter and O’Hara burst through the door, advancing on the professor with their guns drawn. “SBPD! Step away from the machine and put your hands up!” came Carlton’s loud and clear command. The professor quickly spun around, hands raised in surrender, glancing between Shawn and Gus and the detectives. “Well, looks like it’s all over for you, Myles,” said Shawn. The professor let out a half chuckle. “This has all been a huge misunderstanding. This is a highly top secret, government research project, you people can’t be here,”

“Oh, but I believe we can Professor Klump,” said Shawn, raising his finger to his head as he prepared to have a “psychic revelation” before twisting and twitching his head violently to one side like he was having a seizure. “Ooh! You and your partner used the grant the government was giving you to fund your mechanical engineering research project… thingy… to fund a completely different project; a project you and Studwick didn’t want anybody, including the government, to get their hands on,” Quickly, he rushed towards the table, eyes shut, and began to riffle through all the papers that lay there, scattering drawings, mathematical equations and other research notes everywhere. “Hey, stop messing with that! I had it all organized!” exclaimed the professor. He glanced over at Carlton and Juliet, a look of utter astonishment on his face, “Is he always like this?” he asked. “Yes,” Carlton and Juliet answered at the same time.

Shawn suddenly seized a seemingly random piece of paper (he’d glanced at the table beforehand and had noticed a certain piece of paper with some particularly interesting notes written all over it). “Yes! I can feel it!” he exclaimed, bringing the paper to his head and rubbing it all over his face. He snapped his eyes open and held the paper for everyone to see. “Professor Myles here and his partner were dabbling in a little project some believe to be impossible. Something only to be seen in movies or by writers who have clearly begun to run out of ideas,”

Gus scanned the paper Shawn was holding before frowning in confusion and disbelief. “A Tesseract? Like the four-dimensional shape in geometry? A cube within a cube?” Everyone stared at Gus in bewilderment, the way they always do when he sudden sprouts an intelligent fact. “Actually,” began the professor, “it’s more like the Tesseract from _A Wrinkle in Time_.” Gus’ jaw sudden dropped in shock as understanding flooded his brain. “Wait, _A Wrinkle in Time_?” said Juliet in confusion, “Isn’t that a book? What does a book have to with any of this?” “Because, in the book, the main character’s father is working on a mysterious project called a Tesseract, which is later revealed to have the capacity for…”

“Time travel!” Shawn suddenly exclaimed, wanting to be the one to deliver the punchline. “Myles and his partner were developing the technology to travel through time,”


	2. Scientific Progress Goes BANG!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the bad guy confesses, things don't go the way they usually do, and there is major senses overload.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! If any of you have been waiting for this story to be updated, my apologizes. College is kicking my ass right now, but I have chapters already written out. So, to make up for my long absence, you get TWO chapters! Whoo! Enjoy!

“But, time travel doesn't exist,” said Juliet skeptically. “It’s impossible by all known scientific reasoning. It’s only science fiction,”

  
“Well, it would seem that the Doc here and his partner figured out all of the scientific mumbo jumbo, mixed this thing with that thing, added a splash of that other thing, sprinkled in a generous amount of love and BAM! the Tesseract was born,” explained Shawn dramatically, slapping the paper he was holding onto the tabletop for added affect. The professor stared at Shawn like he was the most bizarre human being he’d ever met.

“Well yes, it’s true that Liam and I were able to successfully crack the chemical and mathematical formula for the Tesseract and condensed it into a more manageable form,” the professor replied uncertainly, his eyes flitting around the room.

“But why?” asked Gus.

“Maybe he wanted to go back in time so he can take his mom to the homecoming dance,” suggested Shawn. Gus shot him a disbelieving look before turning his attention back to the professor.

The professor was quiet for a moment. He had turned his gaze towards Shawn, staring in silence as if carefully choosing his next set of words before dropping his gaze to the floor. “You really wanna know why I did all this?” the professor asked quietly, chuckling humorously as his demeanor shifted suddenly and put everyone present on high alert. “Put all of my time and effort into a project that nobody believed would even be remotely successful? A project that caused my wife to leave me and take my children away?”

“That would be helpful, yes,” replied Gus.

Professor Myles suddenly straightened, standing tall and proud, a smile forming on his face and a peculiar glint appearing in his eyes that reminded Shawn of the Joker or some other insane movie villain. “I did it show them! Show all of them!” the professor exclaimed, his hands balling into fists with the passion of his speech, “To prove that this kind of technology doesn't have to only exist in science fiction or make-believe. Liam thought I was taking things too far, tried to tell our boss what was really going on. I couldn't let him throw away everything we’d worked for; everything I've worked my whole life for! Don’t you see? I had to do it. So could finally prove them wrong!”

“Them? Who’s them?” asked Juliet.

“Who cares?” said Carlton irritably. “He’s obviously a complete nutcase and right now he is wasting our time,” Carlton began moving towards the professor to handcuff him when suddenly Myles lunged towards the laptop, toppling over the table covered with papers and diagrams to slow them down.

“Stop! Step away from that machine!” ordered Carlton, forcefully pushing the overturned table out of his way. The professor quickly typed something onto the laptop before leaping towards the machine and onto the metal platform. Suddenly, the projectors began blinking violently and the giant industrial engine that housed what one could only guess to be the Tesseract began whirling and clanking so loud, it pierced Shawn’s eardrums and burrowed deep within his skull. Shawn clamped his hands over his ears in a futile attempt to block out the deafening noise and in the background, he could faintly hear the sound of glass breaking as the windows of the warehouse shattered. The four of them were charging towards the professor and his scientific monstrosity, although it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus with the loud, ear piercing noises and, now, the rapidly brightening lights emanating from the projectors that were now filling the warehouse with the blinding, blue-white light.

“You’ll see! You’ll all see! I’m right! I've always been right! And soon, the whole world will know!” came the professor’s, almost maniacal, exclamation of glee over the loud din. Shawn, Gus, Juliet and Carlton reached the professor almost at the exact same time, but it was almost impossible to distinguish who was who with the bright light piercing through their corneas and making Shawn wonder if, when all this was over, he wouldn't walk out of here both blind and deaf. With both the lights and noise overtaking his already keen senses, Shawn shut his eyes as tight as he could while simultaneously trying to reach for the professor. There was a bang like a cannon going off directly next to his ear and then, nothing.


	3. Welcome to Tomorrowland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the gang finds out that Back to the Future logic may not be so far off.

Shawn slowly came to with a throbbing headache and a constant ringing in his ears, which was not helped by Gus shouting in his ear, asking if he was alright. Well at least I’m not deaf, thought Shawn. He slowly peeled his eyes apart and after his eyes adjusted (And looks like I’m not blind either), he found himself face to face with Gus, who was looking down at him, concern written all over his face.

“Jeez, Gus, what ever happened to personal space?” Shawn quipped, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up. Gus rolled his eyes at his friend’s usual humor, but was otherwise relived to know that he was alright. He helped Shawn to his feet before glancing around to take in his surroundings.

“Where are we?” he asked, turning to Carlton and Juliet, both of whom were also looking around the now deserted warehouse. The Tesseract device, the laptop, the tables and papers, and the professor all seemed to have vanished without a trace, even though the rest of the warehouse looked pretty much the same as before, except maybe with a few more inches of dust and random graffiti spray painted on the walls.

“The real question here, Gus,” said Shawn, moving to join the others, “is when are we?”

“Oh, shut up, Spencer,” barked Carlton. “All this talk about some so-called “Tesseract” and “time travel” is complete and utter crap,”

“Well then how do you explain all the equipment and stuff suddenly disappearing, Lassie?” Gus asked Carlton.

“Well he must have had an accomplish waiting outside with a truck so that they could transport all of the equipment away from here and to their next destination,” said Carlton, satisfied with his logical reasoning.

“Somebody’s in denial,” Shawn sing-songed, grinning madly. “Just admit it, Lassie. You’re just freaked out because there is no logic to this situation at all. We are time travelers now; there’s no denying that,”

Juliet rolled her eyes at Shawn’s absurdity. (Although she couldn't help but feel that he might be right about the whole “time travel” thing, but soon logic won over gut-feelings and she shook the thought aside). She glanced around before moving towards the main doors to the warehouse. “Come on, the professor couldn't have gotten far, with all that equipment with him, it’s sure to attract some attention,” Carlton followed after his partner, feeling triumphant that logic had finally beat out one of Shawn’s wild theories.

“Really, Jules? You too?” Shawn called after the blonde detective. He exchanged a look with Gus before muttering, “Maan!” and following after the two detectives, Gus close behind him.

The quartet jogged between buildings, hoping to find a street they could familiarize themselves with to get them oriented. At one point, Shawn and Gus lost sight of Juliet and Carlton before finally running into them again. Literally. The resultant crash nearly sent all four of them toppling to the ground. Carlton spun around angrily. “Watch were you two idiots are running,” he snapped.

“Why did you stop?” asked Shawn, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“Because of that,” Juliet answered for him, pointing to a random spot in front of them. Shawn looked around and frowned slightly. It certainly looked like the same street that made home to many of the restaurants and shops in Santa Barbara. He saw the Jamba Juice he and Gus visited nearly every day, the barbecue restaurant that served some of the best jerk chicken Shawn had ever had and the video arcade he’d spent so much of his childhood at, trying to get the highest score on every machine. Yet, Shawn felt that there was something… off… about this place and it only took a moment for his keen vision to pick up on the differences. He noticed that there were several new shops he’d never seen before, as well as several old shops that he knew of but looked entirely different, like they’d made renovations at some point. There was also a new tech store that sold these weird looking devices that looks like flat, portable television screens and several other gadgets and gizmos that Shawn had only seen in science fiction movies. He also noticed that the road itself seemed to have been widened at some point to accommodate for the heavy flow of traffic that came through this area.

“Um, Shawn,” began Gus, looking every bit as stunned and confused, and maybe even a little scared, as Shawn felt. “What is this place?”

“We were only in that warehouse for ten minutes, at most,” Juliet added, trying to make sense of everything that was happening and unable to come up with any reasonable explanation that didn't involve the words “time” and “travel”.

A young woman was jogging past them with her dog and Shawn quickly reached out to stop her. The woman stopped and spun around to face him, looking confused and a little annoyed to have had her jog interrupted by a passing stranger. “Excuse me, but can you tell us what today’s date is?” he asked, trying to sound polite. The woman gave him a slightly perplexed look before answering. “It’s the 11th of July,” she stated before turning around to resume her jog.

“Yes, well, what I meant was what year is it?” Shawn asked again. This time, when the woman turned around, she stared at Shawn like he had gone insane.

“You’re joking, right?” she asked, trying to decide whether he was being serious or not. When she got no reply, she sighed before saying, “It’s 2017, okay? The same year it’s been for the last seven months. Got it?” With that the woman quickly turned around and jogged away, wanting to get her and her dog as far away from that strange man as quickly as possible.

But as soon as the woman had said “2017”, the entire group froze, nobody wanting to fully believe that what the woman said was true. Carlton spotted a newspaper stand and ran over to purchase one. He glanced down at date printed and blanched, his mouth dropping in shock. He cursed before turning the paper around so the others could read the date as well. Shawn, Gus and Juliet crowded around Carlton and starred at the newspaper. There, printed in bold, black ink, read, “July 11, 2017”. All three of them could only look on in stunned silence, what was once a sinking suspicion had now been confirmed.

Shawn stepped back and rubbed a hand over his mouth, his brows furrowed in a rare moment of worry and shock. “Well,” he began, drawing the attention of the others, “now we know one thing for sure,” He glanced between the other three, watching to see if they would catch on.

“What?” Gus asked, turning to face him.

Shawn smirked ruefully, his arms folded in front of him. “The professor was right all along!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated!  
> Also, if you are ever looking for an update, I usually post new chapters on my FanFiction account before I upload them here. Just search for the same username.  
> Adios!


	4. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang comes to terms with their new surroundings and Back to the Future references are made.

The four companions stood together in stunned silence, letting the sudden drastic turn of events slowly sink in. They had time traveled. Actual to goodness time travel! To Gus, this was something he had been dreaming about since he was a kid, watching all the classic time travel movies ranging from The Time Machine to Back to the Future. He didn’t even believe humans were even able to develop time travel beyond the scope of mathematical probability, given the countless number to time travel paradoxes and theories, as well as a severe lack of Star Trek-esk technology. But, here they were in the year 2017, ten years into the future. Suddenly, Gus grinned, looking every bit like a kid in a candy store, excitement building within him. They were in the future! Who knows how many other chances he would get to see what transpired over the next ten years. A quick glance at Shawn revealed an equal expression of excitement and anticipation, although Gus suspected it wasn’t for quite the same reason.

“This must be some sort of trick,” Carlton stated suddenly, breaking the silence in his usual gruff manner. “None of this is even remotely possible. It must be some kind of hoax, a ruse, perhaps even a hallucination. I could swear I saw a couple bottles of LSD in that warehouse…”

“…Or we totally just pulled a Back to the Future minus the DeLorean,” interjected Shawn. “Which makes me Michael J. Fox. Jules is Claudia Wells and Gus is Christopher Lloyd,”

“You must be outta your damn mind,” Gus cried indignantly.

“Fine, you can be Thomas F. Wilson,” conceded Shawn, whirling around to face his friend and continue the argument of who Gus would be in the movie.

“Will you two idiots just shut up?” exclaimed Carlton, annoyance and irritation contorting his face into a deep scowl. “We have more important things to worry about than your silly argument,”

“Lassiter’s right,” agreed Juliet, hoping to placate the three men and bringing them back to the situation at hand. “We need to first figure out how we got here, then find the professor so we can… I can’t believe I am saying this… get back to our own time,”

Carlton stared at the blonde detective in disbelief. “O’Hara, you’re not actually buying into this “time travel” crap, are you?”

“I’m only going off of what I know, and what I know is that that newspaper says it’s 2017,”

Shawn quickly glanced up and down the road, taking note of the different shops and buildings, both old and new. A sudden idea popped into his head and he turned to the others. “In every great time travel movie, what is the one thing they have in common?” The other three looked at him like he was growing cauliflower out of his ears and didn’t answer.

Shawn grinned ruefully, “A grand reveal! You know, when the past meets the future and they learn all kinds of cool info about what’s going to happen to them?” The others merely blinked at him before they began to comprehend exactly what he was saying.

“So what you’re saying is…” began Gus.

“…We need to find our future selves. They can help us, since they already worked the case before in the “past” and already know then who, what, where, when, why and how’s of this case,” Shawn finished before turning around and walking down the street.

“Where are you going?” Juliet called after him.

“First stop: the police station!” Shawn called back without turning around.

Gus quickly jogged after him, followed by Juliet, who quickly glanced at Carlton to confirm that he would follow Shawn’s plan. Carlton hesitated, looking like he would rather jump off a cliff than listen to Shawn cursed under his breath and jogged after the others, shouting, “This is still my case, Spencer!”


	5. Spot the Difference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang runs into some old and new faces and revelations are made.

After several minutes of dodging pedestrians, pets and venders of all sizes and flavors, the gang finally arrived at the Santa Barbara Police Department in all her blazing glory. From what Shawn could see, the station hadn’t changed all that much over the last ten years besides generally aging. It was the same stone and concrete building that Shawn had spent a large part of his childhood in and had, only recently, begun to think of as a second home to him.

“Well,” Carlton stated suddenly. Drawing the attention of the others who were silently staring at the building in slight awe. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t intend on standing out here all day. O’Hara, let’s go,” He directed the last statement at Juliet, who quickly followed the older detective into the station. Shawn and Gus shared a look before hurrying to catch up with the two detectives.

Once inside, Shawn’s hyper-observance kicked in and he noticed that, although the basic layout was pretty much the same, there was also something different about the station. There were still officers hard at work, answering phone calls, filing paperwork, chatting by the coffee machine or dragging in perps for processing. Yet, Shawn noticed, the atmosphere seemed off, like someone had changed an old, well-loved air freshener with an off-brand air freshener of the same but still distinctly different scent.

“Why does everything feel… off?” asked Gus, voicing the question that has been mulling in Shawn’s head.

“And where are the other us-es?” asked Juliet, glancing around the station in hopes of getting a glimpse of their future selves (or namely, _her_ future self).

“We’re probably out arresting some lowlife for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s sister’s cousin or something,” Carlton conceded.

“Oh hey, guys,” came a very familiar voice behind them. The four time travelers quickly spun around and came face to face with none other than Buzz McNabb, wearing a crisp black suit, a light blue buttoned shirt and a tie that appeared to have come loose at some point. He appeared to be carrying a large stack of case files as he approached them, his usual wide, cheerful grin etched on his face.

“McNabb,” said Shawn, both in greeting and in shock at his sudden appearance. “What… uh … What are you doing, you know, looking like that?”

McNabb, misunderstanding Shawn’s question, glanced down at his chest and noticed that his tie had come loose. He carefully tucked the folders he was carrying under his arm and tightened his tie. “Oh, thanks for that,” he said gratefully.

Once his tie was neatly fixed, his expression changed from cheerful to perplexed, particularly at Shawn, Gus and Juliet. “Wait, I didn’t know you guys were back in town. When did you get in?” he asked, looking generally surprised. The four shared a puzzled look.

“Uh, Buzz,” Juliet began awkwardly, not entirely sure what to make of this situation, “you know we work here, right? I mean you see us every day,”

McNabb chuckled. “Oh, well, you know that was before you transferred, Detective O’Hara, or should I say…” Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to go and McNabb stared at Juliet like he’d never seen her before. “Wait, detective, last time I checked, you were…”

“Buzz!” came another, this time unfamiliar voice from behind the group. They turned and saw a perky looking blonde woman approach them and as far a Shawn knew, he had never seen her before. She stopped when she reached them, looking both surprised and slightly confused.

“Shawn! Gus! I didn’t know you guys where back in town. How are you?” she exclaimed, smiling widely before pulling Shawn and Gus into a group hug. Shawn and Gus glanced at each other over the mysterious blonde woman’s shoulders in complete bewilderment. They had no idea who she was, but she obviously knew who they were. When she finally let go, she turned to Juliet. She clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Oh, Juliet, it’s so good to see you,” Juliet stared at the blonde woman in confusion, unsure of what to say or do. Luckily, the other blonde woman seemed to pick up on her confusion. “Oh, you probably don’t remember me. We’ve only met on one or two occasions over the years. I’m Head Detective Betsy Brannigan,”

Juliet forced a polite smile and reached out to shake the other woman’s hand. “Well it’s nice to see you again… er… Betsy,”

Brannigan clapped her hands together again, having remembered the reason she had walked over in the first place. “Oh, Buzz, did you get the files I asked you for?” she asked, directly the question to McNabb.

“Right here,” said McNabb, handing her the stack of files he was holding. Brannigan turned back to the group.

“Well, it was nice seeing all of you, but if you would excuse us, my partner and I have a lot of work to do,” she said apologetically.

“Two murders and three burglaries,” added McNabb cheerfully.

Brannigan inclined her head in farewell, turning to leave, but a thought suddenly stuck her and she turned back to the group to face Carlton.

“Oh, Chief, I didn’t see you there. I just left your office a few minutes ago and you said you had a lot of important work to do,” At this, the whole group frozen, with Shawn, Gus and Juliet turning to stare at Carlton, who looked like he’d just been punched in the throat. He quickly shook himself and tried to compose himself, clearing his throat.

“Yes, well, I decided to take a step outside and just happened to run into my old… colleagues,” he said, adopting a light tone and gesturing at the others. Brannigan and McNabb seemed to accept this before turning and walking away.

Shawn, Gus, Juliet and Carlton stood there in stunned silence, the events of the last few minutes slowly sinking in, which was only broken by Shawn’s sudden outburst of shock and utter confusion.

“What the hell just happened?” he exclaimed, looking desperately at the others for answers. But his other three companions were just as stunned and confused as he was and said nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that it's summer break, I can now get back into writing. Hopefully I can get a new chapter posted soon-ish, but until then enjoy this update.


End file.
